Spring-pistol for shooting marbles



(No Model.)

W. J. SLEFPEL, Jr. SPRING PISTOL FOR SHOOTING MARBLES.

No. 559,625. Patented May 5, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFIQEQ \VILLIAM J. SLEFFEL, JR., OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

SPRING-PISTOL FOR SHOOTING MARBLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 559,625, dated May 5, 1896. Application filed February 26, 1895. Serial No. 539 729. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WXLLIAM J. SLEFFEL, In, a citizen of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Impro vements in S prin g-Pistols; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a spring-pistol embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a rear view. Fig. 4; is a front view. Fig. 5 is a central vertical sec tion. Fig. 6 is a section on the line a: 00, Fig. i. Fig. '7 is a section on the line y y of Fig. 1.

My invention relates to improvements in spring or toy pistols; and the object of the invention is to provide a pistol which shall be less complicated in construction and more easily repaired in case of damage than those heretofore in use.

In thedrawings, A represents the stockpiece. It is formed of cast metal and is adapted to be conveniently grasped by the hand and to support the other parts. It is cast with the ring or eyepiece a, the head of, and a downwardly-extending arm (L The head part c has a chamber or cavity at extending through one side and part way across the body.

13 is a wire support adapted to serve as a holder and guide for the marble, bullet, or other missile which is to be projected from the pistol. It is formed of a wire of sufficient thickness and strength to serve the necessary purposes. It is bent so as to have two main arms I) b and at the front a depressed cross part b, which serves to hold the outer ends of the arms I) l) properly in parallelism, and also serves as a stop for the ejecting-spring. The ends at b of the arms I) b are secured in sockets in the face of the head a of the stock. They may be fastened therein in any suitable way, as by shrinking, brazing, or upsetting the metal.

0 indicates the ejecting-spring. It consists of a section of highly-tempered flat springsteel of such length as to be adapted to extend from near the top of the head a down to and around the lower end of the arm a It is bent upward at c and secured to the rear side of the arm a by a screw, as at 0'. upper end c can swing forward along and between the arms 17 b of the bullet-guide, but cannot pass beyond their ends because of the stop that is provided at b.

The ejecting-spring is held in the cooked position by means of a trigger and catch. The catch is shown at D and is formed as one part of an angular piece of metal having also the trigger at D. The intervening portion (Z is of the nature of a bell-cranlr lever, which is pivoted at cl, this lever lying in the abovedescribed chamber or cavity a The catch part D proj ects somewhat in front of the face of the head a, and has an inclined edge at (Z and a shoulder at 1 A small spring E is arranged to bear against the trigger-lever and normally press the catch inward across the path of the spring C.

The trigger part D is placed eccentrically or so as to lie on lines at the side of the ring a, and as a result it is brought to such position that the head (1" is directly in front of the thumb of the user when the hand is held in the ordinaryposition and grasps the pistol.

F is a retaining'spring for holding a marble or bullet on the guide B. It is fastened to the top of the head a by a screw f, its free end overhanging the bullet-guide in such way as to permit the bullet to be readily passed backward under such end, and at the same time not interfere with its expulsion when the spring 0 is released.

The manner of using the device will be readily understood from the above description in connection with the drawings.

The pistol is grasped by passing the indexfinger through the ring a and allowing the arm a to rest against the second finger, which brings the thumb, as aforesaid, into line with the eccentrically-arranged trigger-head d. A marble, bullet, or similar missile is placed on the guide B, it rolling readily backward while being supported on the arms Z). The top spring F permits it to be moved back under it, but acts to exert a sufficient downward press ure to prevent the bullet from rolling outward. The spring 0 is at its upper end pushed inward until it engages with the inclined edge (1 of the catch D, whereupon it pushes The 3 ICO the catch outward until it has slipped past the shoulder (Z when the spring E instantly causes said shoulder to pass in front of the spring and hold it. cooked and after the bullet is in place, the

pistol can be aimed in any direction, hori-:

zontally or vertically. A slight pressure from the thumb on the trigger releases the ejecting-spring, and the latter instantly expels:

the marble or bullet with considerable force,

driving it along the guide-arms b.

are much superior as a support for the bullet,

as it is impossible to clogor choke them, the guideway beingex'posedat all points. I avoid the presence of a butt, which would increase the weight and the number of the parts, and by having a trigger of the character of that shown I avoid the necessity of two or more downward-proj ectin g parts,such as are present when a trigger is used which is intended to be operated by the index-finger.

Theguide Bextends beyond the retainings'pring F, and the ejecting-spring Cswings out somewhat beyond the spring F, so that after it'ha's carried the'ball beyond said spring Fit shall finally give it a propelling energy on the l-in'e'of the guideway after it has left the con- 1 tact withthe'sp'ring I so that although there is no barrel theball can be driven with great precision.

I am aware that prior to my invention it has been proposed to make a toy or spring pistol'eonsisting of a body, a guide'or holder forthe missile, apropelling-spring,and means for holding such spring under tension, and I do not therefore claim, broadly, such an article; but in all previous constructions with which I am acquainted not only the trigger and spring therefor have been arranged within a lVhen the spring is thus Again stock "or body of a pistol, but also the spring by which the missile is propelled has been so arranged. It was therefore necessary to make the body of the pistol much larger than that required in my construction, and thereby the weight and expense of the article were increased; also the parts being all arranged within the body or stock in event of any one being broken it was difficult to replace or repair it. In my construction the only part arranged within stock or body is the trigger-aetuating spring, which enables me to use a practically-solid casting for such body and thereby reduce the weight and size thereof materially. Again I arrange the trigger with relation to such body so that the end D thereof is directly in line with the thumb of a person holding the pistol and sothat a slight pressure is required to free the spring 0.

VV-hat I claim is 1. A spring-pistol having astock, as at A formed with a ring a for the index-finger, a ball-guide consisting of two parallel wires or rods each having oneend secured to the stock, a leaf-spring secured atone end to the upper end of the stock and projecting partially ove r the ball-guide, an ejecting-spring having one end attached to the stock and the other extending between the sides of the ball-guide, and a trigger pivoted to the stock above the ring-a therein and adapted to engage with the free end of the ejecting-spring, substantially as set forth.

2. In a spring-pistolQthe combination with the stock formed of a single casting and having a ring or equivalent to be grasped byone of the fingers, the ejecting-spring, and the ball-holder, of the trigger situated above the ring in the stock and at one side of the central longitudinal line of the aforesaid parts whereby it is brought in line with the thumb, 1

substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WVILLIAM J. SLE'FFEL, JR.

\Vitnesses:

CHAS. C. SL'EFFEL, Mrs. C. F. GALLOWAY. 

